by He was a polarizing figure that was loved by many, but hated by some because of his off the field persona. Whether you loved him or hated him, everyone who watched him play would agree that he was easily one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He was one of the greatest pure athletes the NFL has ever seen, and could have played in any generation and still dominated.
During his time in the NFL with the Browns, he made the Pro Bowl every year and was named one of the best players in football, if not the very best, 8 of 9 seasons by the NFL. The AP voted him their Most Valuable Player three times during his career.
For Brown, he had athleticism in his blood from day one as his father was Professional Boxer Swinton Brown. He grew up being raised by his grandmother however where he excelled at all youth sports as a youth.
He enrolled to play football and lacrosse at Syracuse University in 1953. He would make an impact his sophomore year with the Orangemen as he was second on the team in rushing, and starting to catch the coaching staffs eyes. It was in his junior year that he put himself on the national map with 676 yards, an average of 5.2 per carry.
In his senior year of 1956, Brown was a consensus first-team All-American. He finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting and set school records for highest season rush average (6.2) and most rushing touchdowns in a single game (6). He ran for 986 yards which was third-most in the country despite Syracuse playing in only eight game. He made the most of it in those 8 games, averaging over 100 yards per game and scoring 14 touchdowns. Brown was just getting started.
He saved his best for last as in his final regular season collegiate game, he ran for 197 yards in a 61-7 blowout of Colgate. He scored 6 touchdowns in the game and topped it off by kicked 7 extra points for a school record 43-point game. He was putting up basketball numbers on the football field!
He then went even further in the Cotton Bowl that year versus TCU when he singlehandedly kept them in the game. Against the Horned Frogs, Brown rushed for 132 yards, scored three touchdowns, and kicked three extra points. Had it not been for a freak blocked punt, TCU would have not scraped by with a 28-27 shocking win.
As mentioned prior, he was a natural born athlete and could have went pro in any sport of is choosing. He was that gifted and had unlimited potential. In the 1950’s, things were drastically different and college athletes would play multiple sports and stay in college all four years. Browns was the perfect example of that while at Syracuse he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse.
Averaging 15 points per game as a sophomore he was the second-leading scorer for the basketball team . Later that spring, he took to the track where he earned a letter on the track team. In 1955, he finished in fifth place in the National Championship decathlon. His junior year after another dominating year on the football field, he kept it up on the basketball court he averaged 11.3 points in basketball, and then added lacrosse to his showcase of talents as he named a second-team All-American in lacrosse.
It was at this point, that it was becoming crystal clear that his two best sports were lacrosse and football and he would have his choice of which one to go professional with. His senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse (43 goals in 10 games to rank second in scoring nationally. If his growing legend wasn’t already enough, his mystique as a super hero would get even bigger when Brown was so dominant in the game, that lacrosse rules were changed requiring a lacrosse player to keep their stick in constant motion when carrying the ball (instead of holding it close to his body.
At Syracuse Campus, their Lacrosse Field has a dome known as JMA Wireless Dome which has an 800 square-foot tapestry depicting Brown in football and lacrosse uniforms with the words “Greatest Player Ever” It’s pretty wild to think a man known for his historic career on the football field, could have easily had a bigger one in lacrosse.
The Cleveland Browns selected him with the 6th overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft. This draft also included NFL Hall of Famers such as Len Dawson who went 5th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Paul Hornug first overall to the Green Bay Packers. A few picks after Brown, the Baltimore Colts selected future Hall of Famer Jim Parker. In the third round Tommy McDonald was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles and in the fourth round it was Sonny Jurgensen also going to the Eagles.
Before the draft could conclude, the Cleveland Browns would also select Hall of Famers Henry Jordan in the fifth round and Gene Hickerson in the seventh round. All in all, the NFL Draft that year saw 9 total Hall of Famers selected, none bigger than Brown.
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